“For years we’ve bragged about how diverse and wonderful a place Irving is,” said Steven Weir, an Irving, Texas resident. “Now we’re in a witch hunt.”
Stonecipher, an English and journalism teacher at the Irving Independent School District, has been out of the classroom since the fall of 2021 on administrative leave. Now, she and the students counting on her for support are early casualties in Republican officials’ attacks on LGBTQ tolerance in schools, spurred in part by panic over so-called “grooming” that’s rooted in delusion and barely concealed bigotry.
The vote on Stonecipher’s contract came after students and members of the public lobbied the board to reinstate her during the public comment period. “For years we’ve bragged about how diverse and wonderful a place Irving is,” said Steven Weir, an Irving resident who spoke at the April 18 school board meeting. “Now we’re in a witch hunt.”playing out in school boards across the area
It all started when teachers returned to campus at the beginning of the 2021 school year. Some noticed something missing: rainbow “safe space” stickers they had placed on their classroom doors to indicate they were LGTBQ allies. The stickers’ disappearance came as a shock, as teachers had not been notified of the removal ahead of time.
Just days after pushing back on the removal, Stonecipher was put on administrative leave, then under investigation after an HR complaint accused of her of defaming a fellow faculty member as homophobic, which Stonecipher denies.
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